The group run can be a brilliant thing, a mixture of abilities getting together to just chill out, enjoy some easy runs and shoot the shit. It’s a huge part of any athlete’s training. The easy mileage make up a big part of the volume and it’s great to share. 

But share those miles with the wrong person, or even just getting over eager yourself, and the training race begins. 

Half steppin’

So it only takes one half stepper (someone who always has to be half a step ahead, regardless of pace) and a sprinkling of ego for the pace to start picking up. Be it an easy, progression or tempo run, the conversation flows and the pace gets faster every mile.

Someone like myself, a certified half stepper, only need be with another competitive runner and before either of us know, it’s a training race. Living and training with Paul Navesey we both had to make sure the training race wasn’t too common a feature. But it’s not always a bad thing.

Using the training race

Training in groups is generally always a good thing, even when it gets competitive, if you’re sensible. 

It might be that you both have a progression run or if one athlete is just faster than the other, you can accept the pace will ramp up and plan it like that. The same with tempo running, although at least one of you needs to keep an eye on over doing it. 

When a whole bunch of half steppers are involved in a group run or session then things can easily escalate. This competitive edge can be great for an intervals session, pushing each other to your limits and enjoying the sharing of hard work. 

It still takes a sensible head not to get carried away, as smashing yourself in every hard session isn’t the way to go. You don’t always have to go to the well in every session, even the faster ones. 

With consistency being the key to progression, going a few per cent easier in tougher sessions might be the difference between getting injured and having months of uninterrupted training. 

Solo training race

You don’t need company to have a race. With everyone wearing a GPS watch and the world of Strava, you can be having virtual races all the time.

It normally starts as an easy pace but half way though to notice you’re on for a good average pace or a new PB for this loop. At first you ignore it. It’s an easy run, you’re well rested, just take it slow. Then the average pace drops again. It’s race time.

Before you know it you’re in a progression run and your easy 45 minutes is going to be a 36 minute 10k. Hammer time. 

Strava

Strava takes it a step further. I wouldn’t suggest that everyone reading this is a #StravaWanker who researches local segments to go “crush”, but every time you upload you see where they are. Your regular loop has regular segments. 

It’s good to see your own progression over months and years. It’s less beneficial to see it as a competition every time you step out the door and then charge up your favourite hill. These solo training races can leave you exhausted.

The middle ground

What training racing can leave you at risk of is doing all your running in the middle ground. Everything is ‘steady’ or ‘average’. Scientists like Stephen Seiler in Norway have highlighted the importance of polarisation in training.

The biggest difference between elite and non-elite runners wasn’t mileage, pace or hours, it was polarisation. 

The whole 80/20 theory championed by the like of Matt Fitzgerald come from Seiler and other’s work. 80% of your running should be easy and the other 20% at a high intensity.

Do too much in a mile ground between these two and you don’t get either right. You never really get enough easy running in, nor do you get the best out of yourself in the higher intensity sessions. 

Training races are the perfect place to go too hard for your session. Every session should have a purpose and if that’s to go a bit steadier then invite your half stepping mates. If it’s an easy recovery then maybe run solo.

And remember. We all know a training racer. If you can’t think of one, then you are one. Take it easy.

The post Are you a training racer? appeared first on Fast Running.

You may have heard it said before that every run you go on needs to have a specific purpose or otherwise it’s just ‘junk miles’.

Junk miles is a horrible term and does a disservice to the beauty of running a mile, whatever pace or reason you’re running.

The purpose

Many feel that every run should have a specific purpose though. Each outing should target an energy system. This is a run for your VO2 Max, this one is for lactate threshold and this slower one is to improve aerobic capacity. 

It’s as if runners can just turn off other ‘systems’ and pinpoint what they are doing on one particular day. If running were such an exact science we wouldn’t need coaches, just scientists with data sheets and a live feed of our insides. If anyone wanted that they would have become a cyclist.

There may well be a main focus for each individual session but the human body isn’t as simple as we sometimes might like. It is also the complexity that makes us great. 

The holistic approach

Holistic is a term that gets chucked around all the time. “The belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole” if you use Google. You cannot train one element without affecting the whole. 

Yet why stop at only the biological factors of training. What about the biomechanical? The psychological? 

A sprinter needs to work on their biomechanics, we all know this. Distance runners do too. If you have a great engine but terrible efficiency then you’re not going anywhere.

It’s one reason why a world class cyclist can’t just trash the marathon world record. Did you see Chris Froome try to run uphill when his bike broke?

Psychology can matter even more. If the mind isn’t prepared for race day then the body will never reach it’s potential. It can all be trained. 

Double, even triple, purpose

There is no limit to the purposes a run can have. Take for example the lowly ‘easy run’.

One might say it was simply in place to improve endurance. Another might suggest it is there for recovery, running efficiency, base building, enjoyment of running, building volume or any host of other reasons.

Why would we limit the purpose of a run to one? Surely there should be at least two or three reasons you’re lacing up those shoes and heading out the door.

As an ultra runner, it’s even easier to add more purpose to your easy running. Practising pacing, nutrition, kit, mental strategies or even just enjoying the environment around you will all benefit you on race day. 

The fast stuff

It can be useful to think of the purposes of your session when planning. If you’re a 5000m runner or a marathoner, having multiple purposes in mind will make your training more effective.

Look at Elsey Davis’ recent favourite session article. In there the South West based athlete is training specifically for 10,000m running. There is 10,000m of volume for the efforts but not every effort is done at 10,000m pace.

Different energy systems are stressed with mile efforts and shorter race finish sprints. But the purposes don’t stop at the physiological. The biomechanical element of shifting to different speeds on tired legs is in there too. Then the tactical and mental benefits come in.

The practice of tactics

Training at a range of speeds within one session, as Davis spoke about, can be a great place for mental training too. One can visualise the tactics of past or future races and how you react. Imagine the leader kicking from 1600m out or the final dash to the line. 

Preparing your mind can often be underrated, but it can provide the edge an athlete needs on race day.

It’s not just on the track either. An easy run could be a place to imagine moving well over the final section of a 100 miler or a progression run in your local country lanes can become the run along Pall Mall at London marathon.

It takes no extra effort to add psychological training to your run. Although some days you do need to just run and enjoy it.

The purpose of fun

Back we come to the idea of ‘junk miles’. What constitutes a junk mile to someone? Many would say it was something slow and meaningless. Why run slow when you could just run fast?

Yet studies have shown that low intensity running is an integral part of any runner’s training. The slow miles certainly aren’t junk.

Equally, if a mile is run for enjoyment then it is good for the runner too. If you’re just out to jump in puddles, shred some single track or enjoy the company of friends then those miles have a purpose. 

Consistency is key and we need to enjoy our running to keep the consistency coming. Social interaction is vital to motivation too so having a run with friends can be part of keeping motivation high too. 

The real junk

Personally, the only real junk miles are the ones where you don’t think about the purpose. You’re not running easy, you’re not running at any particular pace, but it’s just hard. Many athletes just go out and run as hard as they can all the time, but that’s not smart. 

If you can think of a purpose, be it simply enjoyment or a super specific reason, then your run has a purpose. It’s not junk.

Look at the bigger picture and remember that goes beyond even just your running. Everything in life can be linked to training if you can think of a purpose.

The post What’s the point of your session? appeared first on Fast Running.